Trinitarians
| Ordo Sanctissimae Trinitatis et Captivorum | |
 |
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| Abbreviation | O.SS.T. |
|---|---|
| Motto | Gloria Tibi Trinitas et Captivis Libertas |
| Formation | December 17, 1198 |
| Founder | St. John of Matha (both St. John and St. Felix are seen as the Fathers of the Order) |
| Type | Clerical Religious Order (Institute of Consecrated Life) |
| Purpose | The Glory of the Most Holy Trinity and the Redemption of Captives |
| Headquarters | Curia General: Via Massimi, 114/c, 00136 Roma, Italia |
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Membership (2015)
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585 (of whom 410 are priests) |
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Ministro General
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Fr. Joseph Narlaly |
| Website | www |
The Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives (Latin: Ordo Sanctissimae Trinitatis et captivorum), often shortened to The Order of the Most Holy Trinity (Latin: Ordo Sanctissimae Trinitatis), or Trinitarians, is a Catholic religious order that was founded in the area of Cerfroid, some 80 km northeast of Paris, at the end of the twelfth century. From the very outset, a special dedication to the mystery of the Holy Trinity has been a constitutive element of the Order's life.
The founder was St. John de Matha, whose feast day is celebrated on 17 December. The founding-intention for the Order was the ransom of Christians held captive by non-Christians, a consequence of crusading and of pirating along the Mediterranean coast of Europe. The Order has the initials "O.SS.T." The Order’s distinctive cross of red and blue can be traced to its beginnings.
Between the eighth and the fifteenth centuries medieval Europe was in a state of intermittent warfare between the Christian kingdoms of southern Europe and the Muslim polities of North Africa, Southern France, Sicily and portions of Spain. According to James W. Brodman, the threat of capture, whether by pirates or coastal raiders, or during one of the region's intermittent wars, was a continuous threat to residents of Catalonia, Languedoc, and the other coastal provinces of medieval Christian Europe. Raids by militias, bands, and armies from both sides was an almost annual occurrence.
The redemption of captives is listed among the corporal works of mercy. The period of the Crusades, when so many Christians were in danger of falling into the hands of non-Christians, witnessed the rise of religious orders vowed exclusively to this pious work.
Pope Innocent III granted the order and its rule approval with his letter Operante divine dispositionis clementia, issued on 17 December 1198. Soon after papal approbation, the Trinitarian ministry to Christian captives was incorporated into the Order's title: Order of the Holy Trinity and of Captives. In addition to the Order's purpose of ransoming Christian captives, each local community of Trinitarians served the people of its area. And so, their ministry included: hospitality, care of the sick and poor, churches, education, etc. Eventually, the Trinitarians also assumed the work of evangelization.
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Wikipedia